


Backstage Passes

by inelegantly (Lir)



Series: SASO 2015 Fills [1]
Category: Love Live! School Idol Project
Genre: Challenge: Sports Anime Shipping Olympics | SASO 2015, Ficlet Collection, Multi, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-13
Updated: 2015-09-11
Packaged: 2018-04-04 05:06:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 9,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4126465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lir/pseuds/inelegantly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of otherwise unrelated short fics all about different pairings of the girls of muse, as written to the specifications of prompts from the Sports Anime Shipping Olympics. Character and pairing tags added as necessary.</p><p><b>Chapter 1:</b> Nico/Maki, First Kisses<br/><b>Chapter 2:</b> Eli/Umi, Dance With Me<br/><b>Chapter 3:</b> Eli/Umi, Sense of Humor<br/><b>Chapter 4:</b> Nico & Nozomi, Accolades<br/><b>Chapter 5:</b> Maki/Umi, Like An Angel<br/><b>Chapter 6:</b> Nico/Maki, Dreams and Reality<br/><b>Chapter 7:</b> Nozomi/Eli/Umi, Usefulness<br/><b>Chapter 8:</b> Nico/Maki, Not By Light<br/><b>Chapter 9:</b> Rin/Maki, Sneaking Out<br/><b>Chapter 10:</b> Maki/Hanayo, Starlight<br/><b>Chapter 11:</b> Maki/Rin/Hanayo, Heartfelt Melody<br/><b>Chapter 12:</b> Nozomi/Eli, To the Winner</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. PG-13 :: [Nico/Maki] :: First Kisses

**Author's Note:**

> As this is a collection of wildly varying, not-interconnected short fics, I want to make it as reader-friendly as possible. Each chapter will be titled with the rating, pairing or characters involved, and a short individual title indicative of its contents. The primary summary for the collection will also be updated with this information as new chapters are added. 
> 
> Thank you for reading my prompt fic! I've grown really attached to all of the love live girls and am happy that [SASO](http://sportsanime.dreamwidth.org) has given me this opportunity to start making content for the fandom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The quote this fic was written from is the following: _"I should have kissed you longer."_

* * *

Maki is the one who starts it.

Nico is running her mouth like she often does, prattling along about her vast popularity and what a talented idol she is and how her charm is comparable to none other, until her words finally do start to slow and the steady stream of self-congratulation tapers to a trickle and then trails into silence. 

Maki thinks, maybe Nico is only allowing herself to take a breath. Maybe there's a second act coming, from the infamous "Nico Nico Nii~" of all people. Maybe Nico has been struck dumb, with the way she's gone and pressed her lips together, firm and unexpectedly serious. 

Maybe she really is as cute as she claims, when the polish of her persona starts to wear through and the sharp-eyed cleverness is revealed underneath. There's something arresting about having Nico just _looking_ at her, without the vapid smile plastered across her face and without any empty words falling from her lips. 

That's when Maki leans forward, deft, pianist's fingers catching against Nico's cheek, and presses her mouth gently to Nico's mouth. 

The curtain of her hair swings down, falling from behind her ears and shielding around her face, as she presses a slow kiss to Nico's lips and feels her heart leap inexplicably into her throat. Nico's mouth is too slack underneath the gentle pressure of her lips, until suddenly it's not, until Nico is grabbing her arms at the elbows and pressing back with such fervor that Maki gasps into her mouth. 

She's surprised, but not above taking a perfect opportunity when she sees one. 

Nico is nicer this way – no pretending. Maki brushes their mouths together, licks across Nico's lower lip, curls her tongue into Nico's mouth with soft precision. She's careful with each motion, testing, untrusting of her reception and secretly delighted by each soft hum, and murmur, and press of lips back. Each kiss has her breath coming the tiniest bit faster, until her composure threatens to crack and she wills herself to pull away.

For a single long moment Nico only stares at her, heavy eyelids blinking slowly like her vision is failing to focus on what there is to see before her. Then Nico screams. 

"Maki!" she yelps. "I didn't— You weren't— It isn't like this was going to—"

Then she snaps her mouth shut, cutting off abruptly and shooting Maki the most poisonous of glares. "If this is something you're trying to pull over on me," Nico says. "I'll have you know that I am not falling for it. No matter how sweet your kisses are." 

Nico's eyes are narrowed, but as she continues to spear Maki with a look, the suspicion and wariness begin to drain from her face. "What _are_ you trying to pull?" 

Maki fails to restrain herself from rolling her eyes. "I should have kissed you longer. I miss the quiet already." 

"That does not answer my question!" Nico declares. 

Maki breathes in slowly, and then out again, taking the pause she thinks is necessary even as Nico works up farther for being forced to wait. It's a matter of great self-control, keeping the smile of amusement off of her face. 

"It seemed like the appropriate opportunity," Maki says. "That was all." 

Nico stares at her again, with such intense scrutiny Maki nearly expects to catch aflame for her transgression against Nico's dignity, before Nico huffs loudly and looks off to the side. "It wasn't terrible. So I guess you weren't wrong." 

"Is that your way of saying you'd like to try it again?" Maki asks. 

"Do _you_?" Nico shoots back.

But that's the point where Maki's sensibilities catch up with her, and she can only stutter out, "I d-didn't say that!" before crossing her arms over her chest and pulling a little further away. 

"Well neither did I," Nico insists. 

But Maki catches Nico glancing at her lips on and off, as they continue the inconsequential conversation Maki had pushed aside before, and she thinks that perhaps both of their answers are more clear than either of them is immediately willing to admit.

* * *  
* *  
*


	2. PG-13 :: [Eli/Umi] :: Dance With Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The prompt this was written for is the following lyrics: _"So don't you dare look back / Just keep your eyes on me / I said 'You're holdin' back' / She said 'Shut up and dance with me'"_ \- Shut Up And Dance, Walk the Moon

* * *

Umi stands in one of the many doorways to the reception hall, staring out across the sea of tables draped in white cloth toward the stage at the other end of the room. The overhead lights are off and everything before Umi appears muted in the low gray light blanketing the empty room. Everything save the polished wood of the stage, where warm, orange afternoon sunlight is slanting in through the windows and falling across it.

There comes the crackle of feedback static, and the opening bars of a slow, instrumental song drift out across the empty air. 

Umi's feet move without her bidding them, and before she's taken more than three steps into the room, she catches sight of movement to one side of the stage. A blonde head pops up from where it's bent over sound equipment, and Umi's lips twitch like she's wanting to smile.

"Eli?" she calls out, crossing between the tables until she comes to stand in front of the stage. "What are you doing here already?" 

"I could ask the same of you," Eli says, straightening her shoulders and stepping away from the sound board.

Umi shrugs sheepishly and starts to bow her head, not having a good answer for why she's early to the event. They'd all worked together to get ready, sealing and mailing invitations, arranging refreshments, putting together decorations for the reception. It's work they should have delegated, but... They're all so used to working together, to doing shows where nothing was handed to them and where if they didn't make all the arrangements, no one else would.

Umi had wanted to see the results of their hard work, before all the guests arrived, that was all. 

"It isn't important," she says at length, tilting her chin back up. "You always work so hard for all of us, don't you? Harder than you have to." 

Eli's mouth twists, like she's holding something back. She sighs, and says, "I do what I have to. If it's for everyone's sake, it's never too much." 

Between them, the sound of the music builds as the composition rises toward its crescendo, transitioning from the slow build of the invitation to dance into the quicker rhythm of the piece's body, so that Umi's mind fills with visions of full-skirted evening gowns swirling in time with the pace. She hums to herself, and holds out her hand.

"If we're both here already," she says, "there is no reason we can't take a little time to relax. Would you maybe... Care to dance with me?" 

Eli is standing on the stage and Umi on the floor, so that when Eli takes another couple of steps forward she seems to loom over Umi from her much higher vantage point. But Umi stands her ground, chin raised and hand outstretched, silently pushing the invitation for Eli to just... Let loose for a minute, and do something fun with her.

A moment stretches between them and then Eli bends down, swinging her legs over the edge of the stage. 

"I did put the music on," she says, as she drops gracefully to the floor. She smooths her hands down the front of her skirt, and smiles at Umi. "I suppose it would be a shame, not to take advantage of that." 

Her hand is soft, when she places it in Umi's, and Umi is very careful not to think as she grasps Eli's fingers and pulls her in. Her other hand goes to Eli's side and slides up to tuck underneath her arm, as a dull part of her mind murmurs _don't think, don't think_ and she doesn't contest it, accepts it when Eli's free hand comes to settle against her upper arm. 

Eli is the classically-trained dancer, and Umi's heart is in her throat at the very idea of taking the lead. 

But the music rises again in melodic splendor, and as Umi takes a step forward with palm pressed to Eli's palm, Eli falls a step back in perfect coordination. She moves where Umi directs her, forward with only the lightest of presses against her shoulderblade, back at the merest of nudges from Umi's hip. The circle they travel is a tight one, swooping around and around in the narrow space between the tables and the stage, increasing their pace a hair at a time even while sticking to the familiar rhythm – quick, quick, slow; quick, quick, slow.

Umi is laughing without thinking, staring into Eli's face as it flushes with exertion and as a smile blooms across her lips, both of them caught up in the rhythm of the song and the energy of dancing. 

At last, the music slows again, and they both gradually drift to a halt. 

They stand together, breathless and bright-eyed and listening to the last trailing bars of the song, hands still clasped and bodies held close together. Slowly their held arms drop to their sides, but the smiles don't entirely drop from their faces. They only soften, and Umi's heart stutters in her chest to see Eli looking so gentle and fond, and while looking at her. 

"See," Umi breathes out. "Now you're loosened up for the reception." 

"Hmm," Eli murmurs back. "I suppose I am, and it's you I have to thank for that."

* * *  
* *  
*


	3. PG :: [Eli/Umi] :: Sense of Humor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The quote this fic was written from was as follows: _"You've got to have a sense of humor to keep your sanity."_ — Lance Bass

* * *

"Everything is going wrong," Umi whispers dully, staring at the phone once again ringing off the hook and at the heaps of papers spread out before her on the table.

She doesn't even have the strength left to jump, when Eli clears her throat, having come to stand over her all without making a sound. Umi only tilts her face up, unable to do more than look helplessly toward the other girl. The event she'd set out to plan is turning into a disaster. 

"You did say you wanted to tackle this on your own," Eli points out, as she walks around the table until she's standing behind the chair next to Umi's, resting her hands lightly against its back. 

The words themselves sound recriminating, but Eli's voice is gentle. Umi stares at her hands and tries to coax the balm of Eli's presence into soothing her fraying nerves. 

"How do you do it?" she asks, voice coming out low and soft. 

"With forethought," Eli says. "And planning, and a great deal of flexibility." 

Umi thought she had all of those, thought she was ready to do something for the group all on her own, as a way to say "thank you." As a way to show how serious she is about being idols together, about their future. 

Eli pulls out the chair she's leaning on, and lowers herself to sit next to Umi. One of her hands reaches out, her fingers sliding across the back of Umi's hand and lingering in silent comfort. "It also helps to be able to laugh at your mistakes," she says. "You've got to have a sense of humor, if you want to keep your sanity." 

Umi _does_ laugh at that, a small, choked little sound, more disbelieving than mirthful. "That's harder than it sounds, isn't it?" 

"Maybe," Eli agrees. "But you asked me how I do this. And that's what it takes." 

Umi is silent – taking that in, processing, breathing an internal sigh of relief that the phone has finally stopped ringing – even while being aware of Eli's calm presence next to her. Eli's hand on hers is warm and steadying, and after another moment Eli leans in closer, head tilting toward Umi so that her ponytail sways to one side and the swing of her hair nearly brushes Umi's face. With that one motion, suddenly Eli is very close. 

"I promise," she says, speaking so softly it's almost a whisper, "that you haven't done as badly as you fear. Sometimes things might look like a disaster, but you simply need to dig in your heels, turn up your chin, and figure out how to make the most of it. Trust me, I've done it before – from far worse situations." 

Umi remembers how close their school came to shutting down, and all the efforts Eli made to save it. When Eli says that a situation can be salvaged, Umi believes it.

"Thank you," she says. "For talking with me. Maybe this isn't so bad after all." 

"That's the spirit," Eli says, giving Umi's hand one last reassuring pat. 

She's smiling soft encouragement when Umi looks up at her, pink lips only just curving up. Umi's fingers curl underneath Eli's hand, and after a moment of hesitation she turns her hand over, and squeezes Eli's hand back. 

"Now then," Eli says, turning to face forward and stare at the pile of work before them. "The other trick of this business is: delegate, delegate, delegate. So let's see if between the two of us, we can't put this all to rights."

* * *  
* *  
*


	4. PG :: [Nico & Nozomi] :: Accolades

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The quote that this fic was written from was as follows: _"Shut the fuck up, you titty monster!"_
> 
> (I know, I know, but it's kind of awfully appropriate for Nozomi and I had a lot of fun writing from it.)

* * *

"...And of course, it's all because of my many loyal fans," Nico is saying, one hand pressed demurely to her breast. She ducks her head, then looks up at the imaginary camera, flashing her best Nico Nico smile. "I never would have come so far as to accept this award without all of their love and support."

From somewhere behind her, there comes a cough. 

Nico freezes midway through the process of pulling her hands up to her face, the "Nico Nico nii~" she was about to break out with falling to ash on her tongue. She holds very, very still, unwilling to turn around, unwilling to continue rehearsing her little speech for when she wins her first popularity award as an idol. 

The noise comes again, sounding less like a cough and more like a snort, like smothered laughter just starting to bubble up from someone's throat. There's another little giggle, and then a full-throated chuckle. Nico spins around all at once and points her finger accusingly at the doorway.

"You!" she shouts.

Nozomi pauses where her head is just peeked around the doorframe, and rather than pulling back and pretending like she hasn't been caught watching she simply shrugs, and steps further into the room. 

"Me," she says, as a self-satisfied smile blooms across her face. "Aren't you happy to see me, Nico-cchi?" 

"Happy?" Nico exclaims. " _Happy_ about having you sneak up on me, you harpy? Of course I'm not happy!" 

Nozomi crosses her arms under her chest, and pouts. Nico can feel her hands clenching at her sides while her face burns, cheeks flaming so hot that it would be impossible for Nozomi not to have noticed. 

"That's not very cute, Nico-cchi," Nozomi says, taking another step further into the room, and then one more. "If you're trying to thank your loyal fans, you should be cute, don't you think?" 

"Sh-Shut up!" Nico yells, stumbling a step back. "You have no idea what you're talking about!" 

Nozomi takes a final step before her hand darts out, faster than Nico could have expected when usually Nozomi is nothing but slow, sly grace, her fingers closing tight on Nico's wrist. She should have remembered how fast Nozomi can be when it matters to her. 

"Let go!" she shrieks, tugging back on her hand. "Witch! Monster!" 

"Hush," Nozomi says, paying little mind to Nico's shrill protestations and continued name-calling as she bends slowly down until her face is on Nico's level. "Tell me again about how you appreciate all the love and support you've been given." 

"Not from you!" Nico yells. 

"Hmm," Nozomi hums, and lets go of Nico's hand. 

Not expecting it, and still pulling back against Nozomi's grip, Nico nearly falls over herself when Nozomi releases her. She stumbles, catches herself on the edge of the table, and shoots Nozomi a reproachful glare. 

Nozomi only smiles at her, calm and unruffled, and reaches into the front of her blouse to pluck out a single tarot card. She holds it between her first and middle fingers, before tilting it to show Nico the face. "Your fortune says you ought to be a bit more grateful," she says. "Especially if what you're practicing is acceptance speeches."

"I wasn't," Nico says, but the last of her fight has drained out of her. She turns her face away, scowling darkly and refusing to look at Nozomi. "It's none of your business." 

"I like to make these things my business," Nozomi says. "And who knows, maybe one day I'll see you make that speech, polished up of course, on a proper stage." 

She laughs again, kindly enough that Nico almost wants to hit her for it, and turns to walk out of the club room without another word and with Nico's eyes glaring angry, impotent holes into her back.

* * *  
* *  
*


	5. PG :: [Maki/Umi] :: Like an Angel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The quote this fic was written from was as follows: 
> 
> _"At the end of the world_  
>  _I heard you singing_  
>  _At the end of the world_  
>  _I saw you dancing_  
>  _Like an angel_  
>  _In the clear sky_  
>  _You smile and cry and say goodbye_  
>  _I keep open eyes and mind_  
>  _I realize"_ — Discography by Straightener

* * *

"Is this alright?" Maki asks, her hand resting against the top of the piano without yet moving to roll the cover back from the keys.

"It should be," Umi says, as she stretches her arms above her head and bends herself first to one side, then the other. "Thank you, for doing this with me." 

"It's my pleasure," Maki says, and finds that she means it. 

She pushes the cover back, moving around the seat and dropping herself onto it, her fingers hovering expectantly over the keys. She isn't even touching them but she can feel how close they are beneath her hands, like she's creating that moment before the music rises and begins through her own human power. 

"Are you ready?" Maki asks, glancing up at Umi again in time to see her finishing her limbering exercises. 

"I'm ready," Umi replies.

She bows, a neat, precise dip where her arms and legs shift exactly so, and her mouth twitches like she wants to smile once she returns to her resting position. Maki lets her hands drop, picking slowly across the keys at the behest of the unfamiliar sheet music before her, the sound of the song Umi has chosen falling on her ears for the first time and catching her attention alight. 

Beside her, Umi begins to move. She's graceful as she flows through the motions of the dance she set out to practice – something modified from the traditional Japanese dance her family teaches, Maki remembers that – but Maki can't afford to keep her eyes on Umi. She hadn't thought to ask for the music ahead of time and she's forced to constantly dart her gaze back to the sheet, following the notes on the page so she won't fail Umi in her part. 

Every glimpse of Umi's dancing is only lovelier for Maki's inability to watch outright. 

She reaches the climax of the piece, a rush of notes building up to something Maki feels in her bones for all that she can't yet place where it's going, and out of the corner of her eye she sees Umi execute a fluid three-sixty degree turn before she drops to her knees. Her skirts spread and Maki thinks – can't say – that she bows, before rising again like a bird taking flight.

That's when Umi's voice rises with her, adding words to the melody Maki has dutifully been providing her. It's not unfamiliar, listening to Umi's voice rise and fall with careful pitch, perfect enough to satisfy even Maki's discerning ear. But it's different, hearing Umi sing out unfamiliar words, rather than the practiced lyrics of any of the songs written for muse. 

Maki gradually reaches the end of the piece, and as the last notes from the piano trail off, Umi trails off along with them. She's beaming, rosy-cheeked and eyes alight, when Maki lifts her gaze to see it. 

"Oh, thank you," Umi says, voice gone louder than usual with heartfelt sincerity. 

Maki's lips part, but whatever words she was tonguing at fade away before being voiced, drowned beneath the dawning realization of exactly how Umi looks when the energy from a performance is still bright underneath her skin. She's absolutely incandescent, and Maki finds herself breathless. 

"I told you," she finally says, voice coming out near-soft as a whisper, "It was my pleasure to do it." 

Umi smiles at her, slow and secretive, like she isn't entirely sure Maki's words are the truth. But Maki only shakes her head, too moved to push herself into convincing Umi of her sincerity. 

"If you'd like to practice together again," she says instead, "I would appreciate that very much. If nothing else, I welcome the introduction to new piano music." 

That causes Umi's smile to stretch just a hair wider, relaxing into something warmer and more comfortable. "There are a lot of pieces I'd like to modify dances for," she confides. "Not all of them are especially... Suited to the kinds of shows we perform as muse, but... It makes me happy to be able to practice them." 

"You should feel happy, and proud," Maki says. "For creating something beautiful. And because, I think, they're something suited to _you._ " 

Umi's mouth trembles, like she doesn't know what to say, but all the answer Maki needs is that of the warm contentment lighting up Umi's eyes.

* * *  
* *  
*


	6. PG-13 :: [Nico/Maki] :: Dreams and Reality

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The quote this fic was written from is as follows: _"If you can't have the reality, a dream is just as good."_ — Ray Bradbury.

* * * 

"You should pick something out, too," Nico says, several hangers draped over her arms so that the skirts of the dresses attached to them bounce as she strides through the store.

"Mmm," Maki hums to herself, glancing at the outfits on the mannequins and the cutesy pink-and-white décor coating the entire interior. "I'm not sure if anything here is to my taste." 

"Not to your taste?" Nico asks, a disbelieving note creeping into her voice. She turns back around, stopping in her tracks and leveling Maki with a greedy look like she's sizing her up, one of her hands rising to tap its first finger against her chin. "We'll see about that. I bet I can find something you'll look adorable in." 

For a moment, a shiver runs down Maki's spine, at being pierced with a gaze as knowing as the one Nico holds her trapped by. Her heart stutters twice in her chest, beating out of tune as Nico's smile spreads to resemble – for a single moment – the canny look of someone else Maki knows too well. 

Her cheeks burn, and she turns her face away. 

"Adorable isn't really the look I'm going for, Nico-chan," she says. 

"I just want to play to your best attributes," Nico says. "You have a very lithe figure, and while what's popular for your type is usually something more stately, sometimes playing with people's expectations pays off better than you could possibly dream. Trust me, I know these things." 

_Trust me,_ Maki hears again, in that sly voice that's always holding something else up her sleeve. 

She feels her resolve crumbling before she even makes the decision. Her feet carry her after Nico, and she says, "I suppose it wouldn't hurt, to see what you pick out for me." 

"Perfect," Nico declares, turning to march through the store with renewed determination. 

She strides past each rack with eyes narrowed and brows drawn down, immediately waving off those garments that don't meet her lofty standards for her vision of Maki not yet come to pass. It's that confidence that Maki admires – that makes her want to curl close to Nico and _listen_ to the things she says, rather than brushing off her more aggravating bluster. 

Every time Nico declares her trademark "Nico Nico Nii~" and flashes that false, plastic grin, Maki's nerves fray apart a little farther at the seams. But when she says _trust me,_ and _I've got this_ and lets her eyes gleam bright with plans Maki can only guess at, that's when Maki wants to kiss her until her own breath comes short and shallow and her heartbeat thunders heavy in her ears. 

"This is exactly what you need," Nico mutters to herself, snatching a garment off one rack, fingering the material of a skirt off another. "And, hmm, let's try this. Maki! We're ready – it's showtime." 

Nico grabs her wrist, and Maki allows herself to be towed along into a changing room. 

"Put these on," Nico says, shoving the hangers at her and shutting herself in the little cubicle behind Maki. 

Ordinarily she would bristle at such a command, but Maki only reaches her hand out, taking the hangers and sliding the first camisole from its hooks. Nico is behind her, leaned against the door and meeting Maki's eyes in the mirror against the wall, and a slow, uncertain part of her brain tells her she should scold Nico and usher her out of the room, insist that Nico give her privacy while she's changing. 

But Maki can feel the flush in her cheeks spreading hot down her neck, can feel the weight of Nico's gaze as she waits, with absolute expectation of obedience, for Maki to do as she's asked, and before she thinks better of it her fingers move to her throat and begin to unfasten the buttons of her blouse, one by one. Nico watches her, calm and confident and with her cutesy, babyish stage voice put away, and all Maki can think is that it feels like how _Nozomi's_ gaze tends to feel, so intense that her skin feels on fire. 

Her blouse comes off, her skirt comes down, her motions jerky and uncertain and for a rare moment she really _feels_ how Nico is older than her, embarrassed to be so clumsy in front of someone who prides herself on her polish. She pulls on the camisole and the sweater and the light, airy skirt Nico picked out, hands dragging the garments on too fast, too fast, until she's standing in front of the mirror looking at herself and she realizes Nico's back is no longer against the door. 

"I _told_ you," Nico says, sounding incredibly proud of herself, so that Maki's blood burns infuriatingly hot at the _presumption,_ before that fire in her veins cools to a slower simmer of appreciation. "I told you I could make you look cute." 

"I'm not so sure it suits me," Maki says, each word carefully picked out as she slowly turns away from the mirror.

She feels fragile, like spun glass, new-blown and superheated and ready to fracture apart into pieces, but the grace with which she moves is flawless. Her eyebrows go up, baiting Nico with her casual disbelief. 

"Of _course_ it suits you," Nico insists. Her hands come up, plucking at the hem of the sweater, sweeping her hand down Maki's side to her hip. The weight of her hand is almost, almost, as heavy as Maki wants. "What part of this isn't so adorable you could puke?" 

Maki doesn't know how to say, touch me more, grab me, hold onto me like a treasure you've made yours, can barely think such things without a cold, nervous shiver running down her spine. But she can grab Nico by her wrist, pulling her smoothly forward and in. 

"Wasn't this a date?" she says, with her nose brushing close by Nico's. 

"I didn't think you liked stuff like this!" Nico exclaims, too loud, too fast, and Maki can feel the heartbeat caught underneath her fingers wrapped around Nico's wrist. 

_(She doesn't, she wouldn't she won't, not normally, not in any words she'll ever admit past her lips, only when it's Nozomi, Nozomi who looks at her like a precious treasure, like a curious prize, like something other than herself but not lesser and she swears that she won't—)_

"I figure it's fine," Maki whispers, pushing down all the half-formed thoughts crowding at the back of her mind, "once in a while." 

She only feels slightly guilty, when she leans forward and brushes her lips against Nico's. She tells herself, she really does like Nico. It's not quite like how she longs for Nozomi with her lofty perfection, as remote and unreachable as a dream, but – she admires Nico for similar reasons, when it comes down to it. 

When Nico laughs against her mouth and kisses her back with cheeky eagerness, Maki smiles against the kiss, and thinks, the dream she's made for herself is at least _nearly_ as good.

* * *  
* *  
* 


	7. PG :: [Nozomi/Eli/Umi] :: Usefulness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The quote this fic was written from is as follows: 
> 
> _"Like a doctor, I learned to create_  
>  _from another’s suffering my own usefulness, and once_  
>  _you know how to do this, you can never refuse."_ — Julia Kasdorf

* * *

Nozomi stands in the doorway, as Umi completes a final spin to the time set by music coming from the tiny speakers Eli has set to playing. Her right leg kicks out in the last move of the sequence, cheeks flushed with exertion and the smallest triumphant smile on her face, before her left leg wavers and her knee starts to crumple. 

It's enough to make Nozomi flinch, away from the doorframe and toward the other girl, but Eli is there first.

Eli is always there, overseeing the entire school from the pinnacle of the student council president position, overseeing muse with long looks and calm certainty – like she trusts all their members to do their parts but needs to make herself available all the same. She's there for Umi as she stumbles, getting her shoulder under Umi's arm and catching her before her knee can give. 

"Your moves are getting even cleaner than before," Eli says. "There's really no wasted motion at all, though I suspect we may have pushed you too hard, just now. Let's take a breather." 

Umi laughs softly, a stuttery sound breathed out with her exhale, and then the momentary creasing of pain is again gone from her face. Her lips smile before she murmurs, "Thank you." 

"It's nothing," Eli says. "If I have all of this expertise, the least I can do is use it. Now give me a moment, I want to look at your leg." 

Eli helps Umi over to a chair beside the table where her MP3 player has moved on to another piece, a gentle piano melody with a light flute accompaniment woven through. As Umi sits, Eli slides to the floor, her hands curling around Umi's knee and following the length of her calf down to her ankle. 

"It's alright, really," Umi tries to insist. 

"Nonsense," Eli says. "Dancing injuries can be very serious. I'm no doctor, but I can at least do my best to make sure nothing is pulled, or strained." 

Nozomi finds herself smiling, just to watch Eli's steady efficiency, to see how calmly she handles whatever problems are presented to her. She's used to watching Eli's hands – shuffling documents in the student council room, flipping through letters addressed to the council, touching her face or idly twirling her hair without noticing it, when she's lost in thought over phrasing, or plans, or a million other Eli-like contemplations Nozomi can only guess at. 

She watches Eli's hands then, massaging at Umi's calves and working out tension, working gingerly along the other girl's legs with her head bowed demurely over her work. Eli glances up, as her fingers again curl around Umi's knee, and even in one-quarter profile Nozomi can see the smallest of smiles pulling at her lips. 

"I'm happy to say that it looks to be nothing," Eli says. "Just exhaustion making your legs weak. Drink some water, and get some rest. I think we've done enough for today." 

"Thank you, again," Umi says. "I'm happy you took the time to practice with me." 

"Hmm," Eli murmurs, her expression softening further into warm fondness. "You say that as if I don't enjoy our practices very much myself." 

Eli doesn't react, when Umi's cheeks flush red, and her heels draw backward underneath the chair even with Eli's hands still resting gently on her knee. But Nozomi does, murmuring knowingly to herself from just out of sight and pressing her hand over her lips to hide how widely she's smiling. 

"I'll be sure to rest, like you said," Umi assures Eli, her voice gone smaller with dutiful contrition. 

"That's what I like to hear," Eli says. She pats Umi's knee, and midway through pushing up from the floor, catches Umi's face just under her chin, tilting it up slightly to look at her. "Your dancing was beautiful, but please, do be careful with yourself." 

"I will," Umi says. 

After Eli is standing, Umi rises as well, flashing Eli another fragile little smile and a wave of her hand. As she walks toward the door Nozomi steps away, pressing her back to the wall just outside the room and folding her arms casually over her chest. 

Umi doesn't even glance at her as she walks by – almost a shame, to Nozomi's mind, but there's time for them to talk in later hours. 

"Eli-cchi," Nozomi says, as she pivots again and steps into the room. 

"Ah," Eli says, glancing up from where she'd bent to shut off the music. "I should have known you would find me." 

"It isn't always hard," Nozomi says, flashing Eli a knowing smile as she crosses the space between them to take the MP3 player from Eli's hand. "I'm glad you make it easy for me." 

Eli laughs, a soft, comfortable sound that warms Nozomi just to hear, and allows Nozomi to take the gadget away. Nozomi doesn't miss it, when Eli's shoulders just marginally relax, and the rigidness of her posture starts to melt away. "You say that as if I do this on purpose." 

"Don't you?" Nozomi asks. "Mmm, sit down, it's not so late yet." 

"Here?" Eli asks back, even as she folds herself to perch on the very same chair she'd led Umi to not minutes before. "You always are very particular, for such a laid-back person." 

"Only about the things that matter," Nozomi says, as she shifts to stand behind Eli. Her hands settle against Eli's shoulders, sliding in toward the center and beginning to work her thumbs against the back of Eli's neck. "I thought you might need to relax." 

"Hmm," Eli murmurs to herself, but she doesn't argue. Her head rolls forward, and she turns herself over to Nozomi's strong fingers, picking up where Eli has left off and working all the tension out of Eli's neck, shoulders, and back. 

"You should be careful with yourself, too," Nozomi murmurs, leaning her face close by Eli's ear. 

"Perhaps," Eli agrees, voice gone vague like her focus is elsewhere. "But there's hardly a need, is there, when I have you to take care for me?" 

Nozomi laughs, and kisses Eli's cheek, and admits at least to herself that she loves nothing better.

* * *  
* *  
*


	8. PG-13 :: [Nico/Maki] :: Not by Light

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The quote this fic was written from was as follows: 
> 
> _"Stars, hide your fires;_  
>  _Let not light see my black and deep desires."_ \- William Shakespeare, Macbeth
> 
> This is the last of the short fics I've written for BR1, and this collection therefore may not be updated for some time. BR2 is an AU theme and for me that means longer, more fleshed-out stories. But as writing from prompts is something I love to do, I want to mention that once SASO is over, I may start taking drabble requests on [my tumblr](http://unelegantly.tumblr.com/ask) for love live, if anyone is interested in that kind of thing!

* * *

The spotlights snap off after their performance, and as the curtain fully descends, Maki swipes the back of her hand across her brow to wipe some of the sweat off her forehead. It's sweltering underneath the heat of the lights but part of being an idol is working past that, is in the dedication it takes to remain cool and collected even while pushing oneself through physical discomfort.

Rin rushes off the stage with Hanayo in tow, shouting something about what a great performance it was. Kotori giggles softly at something Honoka has said, before Honoka grabs Umi as well to tug them both in for a hug. The low yellow lights backstage call to all nine of them, beckoning them to depart from the shadowy dimness of the curtained-off stage proper, but Maki doesn't move so quickly. 

"Good performance," Nozomi says, draping an arm around Maki's shoulders and giving her a squeeze. She's gone the next moment, floating over behind Eli to give her the same treatment. 

"Thanks," Maki murmurs back, walking slowly after her friends toward the mellow illumination from the hall.

She thinks she's the last one off the stage, until a hand reaches out of the dark, grasping tight around her wrist and pulling her to a halt. They're familiar fingers, slim but stronger than the size of those hands should suggest, and Nico catches her other hand in order to pull Maki in before leaning toward her in the darkness.

"H-Hey," Maki tries to protest, eyes darting once toward where the curtains part and toward where all of their friends have only barely departed. "Don't mess around." 

"I'm not," Nico says. 

It's dark enough underneath the curtains that she appears only as a vague shadow in the dimness, even from a foot away. But Maki's eyes are adjusting after the brilliance of the spotlights and in the absence of the mellower light from off-stage, so that Nico's face seems to materialize out of the shadows like a ghost. 

"You're too serious all the time," Nico says, regretfully, like she's despairing of Maki. "You need to loosen up. Doesn't performing like this excite you?" 

"Sometimes," Maki says, words a little clipped. "I'm less excited by someone grabbing me when I only wanted to go get a bottle of water." 

"Maki," Nico says, despairing again, like she thinks she'll have to better teach Maki the ropes. (Maki can feel herself bristle at the very thought.) "Stop avoiding me." 

"I'm not," Maki says. "I'm avoiding something foolish." 

But Nico's hands are gentle now around her fingers, hands wrapped around Maki's hands with an intimacy that makes her blush, that makes her thankful for the dimness of their surroundings. Nico swings their hands out and back, out and back, childishly playing with them so that Maki almost snaps at her again. But then Nico squeezes them, and steps in closer, and Maki finds it within herself to push her petty aggravation aside. 

"Our friends are waiting for us," she says, making one last try at a diversion. 

"So hurry up," Nico says. "And don't complain so much." 

She tugs insistently one more time at Maki's arms, and Maki can't pretend (not well) that she doesn't know what Nico is angling for. She bends down, arms pulling apart so that Nico releases her and she can slide her hands against Nico's waist right before her lips brush against Nico's lips. It's a light kiss, appeasing, and Nico is the one to push back harder, reaching her hands up to grasp against Maki's face and pull her in. 

"That's better," Nico murmurs smugly against Maki's mouth, so that Maki only kisses her again, more firmly than before. She takes back the lead rather than letting Nico grow too pleased with herself, kissing her short and quick until Nico's breath starts to come fast, and only then licking slow into Nico's mouth with her own sense of contentment. 

She pulls away only when Nico's hands slide from her face and drag down her chest, gasping softly and opening the space back up in between them. 

"You're pushy," she says, but with more amusement than recrimination. 

"I like the stage," Nico says back, curling her hands against Maki's sides and sliding warm fingers in underneath the hem of Maki's top. "I like being on stage. I like kissing you on stage." 

"Don't," Maki says, as her stomach muscles jump underneath the ticklish brush of Nico's fingertips. "You're incorrigible." 

"I just know what I like, and what I want, isn't that part of being an idol?" 

Maki laughs, in disbelief as much as anything, but allows herself to lean in and kiss Nico one last time. "I like not having our friends shriek at us when they come looking and we're attached at the lip. Do you want to hear the things Nozomi will say if she has this to lord over you?" 

"Ugh, pass," Nico says, pulling back from Maki even as she's cringing.

Maki disentangles herself, walking past Nico and holding aside the curtain so Nico can walk past her through the door leading off stage. She's relieved to have held off the worst of Nico's insistence, but... Might admit, if only to herself, that there is a certain allure, to kisses stolen in the shadows between shows.

* * *  
* *  
*


	9. PG :: [Rin/Maki] :: Sneaking Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The prompt this was written from was in bonus round three of SASO, the sound tracks round. The songs that inspired this fic were as follows:
> 
>   * [beat in angel - rin and maki](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dm-egiUQXA4)
>   * [no, thank you - after school teatime](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grXXPSNjOak)
>   * [romeo and cinderella - jubyphonic](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vDymzSBx8I)
> 


* * *

There comes a light pitter-pat against the windowpane, and for a moment Maki thinks it's rain.

But she knows the day outside to be bright and sunny, warm enough for short sleeves and swimming, and with her stuck inside for the sake of studying. She ignores the pitter-pat, pitter-pat against the window, tucking her nose into her books and pretending that she hasn't heard. But every so often it comes, one small impact followed by another, and after the fifth repetition it's Maki's curiosity that has her pushing her book aside. 

When Maki thrusts open the window, it's Rin she sees below her, a whole handful of pebbles cradled against her palm. Rin's other hand is upraised already, one of her makeshift missiles plucked between her fingers in preparation for launch. 

Maki frowns at her, but Rin doesn't stop grinning.

"Maki-chan!" she exclaims. "I got your attention. Come down, come down!" 

"I do have a front door," Maki points out. "And a phone. You don't expect me to climb out the window, do you?"

"Well, of course not," Rin says, her face creasing in confusion. "You could fall, and hurt yourself. It'll be much better if you use the door." 

"...I can't," Maki says, after a not-insignificant pause. Rin is staring up at her so sweetly that she almost _wants_ to agree, never mind that she has responsibilities she's already taken on. "I have schoolwork." 

"But Maki." Rin pouts. "You can do schoolwork any old time. There might not be a day as nice as this to swim for _ages._ Look!" 

Rin pulls the neck of her blouse aside, letting it drop from her shoulder before her fingers pluck at the strap of her swimsuit instead. It snaps against her shoulder after she pulls it with a solid, unmistakeable sound. Rin looks up at Maki after she does it, beaming to show off her swimsuit. 

"It's new," she says. "Come onnnn Maki, let's have fun!" 

"I can't," Maki says again, even as she leans her arms against the windowsill and brings her chin down to rest against them. The wistfulness in her voice is clear even to her own ears. "My mother would never agree to it. And besides, it isn't as if I have so much work that it will take the entire day."

Just enough of the day that it'll be too late for her to swim once she's finished — but Maki doesn't say that part.

"That's why I came to the window," Rin says, conspiratorially. "Your mom doesn't need to know at all! Come outside, quick, quick, and with how good you are at studying and, you know... That kinda stuff, you'll be back in time that you can finish, and no one the wiser." 

She looks inordinately pleased with herself. Maki can feel the corner of her mouth twitching, threatening to pull up into a smile. The temptation to give in is back, stronger than before. 

"You're like a knight at a tower," she says, softer than when she was speaking before, soft enough that Rin's brow scrunches up again while she struggles to hear. "I never realized I was going to be the princess." 

"I'll treat you like a princess!" Rin declares, latching onto the word she's picked out. "I'll carry your towel for you, and let you have the nicest pool chair we can find. And we'll swim! You want to come swimming, don't you, Maki?" 

This time, she can feel her lips tugging all the way up into that smile. "I guess I do. Though be warned, I'm taking a chance in coming out with you!" 

"Yesssss!" Rin shouts, punching her fist in the air. 

Maki is fairly certain that Rin has taken absolutely no heed of her warning. She shakes her head in disbelief, but doesn't contest it. Her hands come up, ready to push the window shut again. 

"I'll be down in a minute," she calls. 

"I'll have the towels ready!" Rin calls back.

And though she's certain her mother will have strong, disapproving words to say about her delinquency, if she finds out, Maki can't help but hurry through her changing, eager to be gone.

* * *  
* *  
*


	10. PG-13 :: [Maki/Hanayo] :: Starlight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was written for the fifth bonus round of SASO, which is the remix round. It is inspired by [this lovely artwork](https://40.media.tumblr.com/b988a6cac343b5490eaa2c1f592898bb/tumblr_nrwn6s1lsB1rpw7xwo1_540.png) by lovely friend [Sarah](https://twitter.com/luckycricket33).

* * *

Maki follows Hanayo down the halls of their school, after the evening's festivities have let out and while everyone else is filtering out of the auditorium and headed toward the front doors. It's late, later than Maki ever finds herself in the school. Even with their occasional nighttime extracurriculars, she is always one to leave the building promptly after events conclude.

But there are few things Hanayo will get excited enough about that she will push to have her way — idol events being one of the few Maki can name off-hand — and the quiet insistence with which Hanayo asked for Maki to follow her was enough to pique Maki's interest. 

They make their way toward the same stairs they always take for practice on the roof. Hanayo has a key, as the idol appreciation club's new president, and throws the doors open to the blackness of night. There are no lights posted on the rooftop; before them there is velvety dimness, interrupted only by the distant lights stationed around the edges of the school grounds. 

"There's something I wanted to show you," Hanayo says, with quiet conviction. "Walk a little further with me?" 

Maki trails in her wake. They make their way to the center of the roof, where Hanayo seats herself, and where Maki follows suit. Hanayo fidgets for a moment, glancing up at the sky, then over at Maki, then off again toward the horizon. She uncrosses her legs, and finally leans back against the rooftop with her head resting against arms folded behind her. 

"The stars are really bright from here, don't you think?" Hanayo asks, as Maki follows suit. 

Hanayo's voice is soft, like the weight of the sky above them is stifling it into smallness. But Hanayo always talks like that, quiet, reserved, and once Maki finishes shifting on the tiles of the roof she glances over at Hanayo with the smallest beginnings of a smile. 

"How did you discover the sky would be so clear from up here?" Maki asks. 

"I, well," Hanayo starts to say. "It was back when we were preparing for the Muse show we held here. I was helping Eli, and we just... Lost track of time." 

She laughs, softly, almost nervously. She laughs like it was something foolish for her to have done, but then shakes her head. "We only realized how late it was once it started to get dark, and the stars started to come out all around us. But then I realized... You can see all of them." 

"It's beautiful," Maki murmurs back, staring off toward the sky. Her next words stick in her throat, but she eases them out. "What... Made you want to bring me here to see?" 

"Oh," Hanayo says, twisting to face Maki. "You said something once, about wanting to be like a star, or wanting to bring light to people. I thought... That you would like it." 

Maki had forgotten that. She's surprised Hanayo remembers. She turns closer toward Hanayo and suddenly Hanayo is leaned right over her, her face huge where she's silhouetted against the blackness of the sky. Maki's breath goes momentarily short in her throat. 

"Yeah," she says, very softly. "Yeah, I really do. Looking up at everything, it's... Really beautiful." 

She isn't sure she's talking about the stars this time. Hanayo smiles at the compliment, beaming in a way that suffuses her face with quiet joy, and Maki thinks that she must not be talking about the stars at all.

* * *  
* *  
*


	11. PG-13 :: [Maki/Rin/Hanayo] :: Heartfelt Melody

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was written for the fifth bonus round of SASO, which is the remix round. It's a remix of [this really cute fic](http://sportsanime.dreamwidth.org/4049.html?thread=1090513#cmt1090513) written by DW user dandywonderous.

* * *

Maki arranges her sheet music against the piano, fastidiously fixing the pages so that all their edges lay perfectly in line. The cover over the keys is rolled back, left that way after the numerous repetitions of the song she's already run through. After so much practice, she hardly needs the sheet music. She rolls the cover back down, letting the click of the wood sliding into place signify that _this is it, it's done._

She walks into the front room of the apartment, the one stuffed with Hanayo's DVDs and Rin's knick-knacks and million other tiny pieces of each other's lives, and glances at the clock above the small kitchen stove. 

Still a good twenty minutes until Hanayo and Rin return home, at least. Twenty minutes for her to fidget and fret, the melody for the song she'd been working on — the song she is finally going to show to her girlfriends, finished or not — playing hauntingly underneath every movement she makes from the inside of her own head. She stares at the clock over the stove, looks to the door, and breathes out. 

She walks again toward the piano, and rolls the key cover back out of the way. 

After so many repetitions, Maki hardly needs to play the song again. She knows every note that's written down on the paper — nudged into place by her precise, exacting hand — with absolute certainty. Her fingers find the keys in spite of this. There are a few places in the song where the melody grows weak, where the procession of notes seem to stumble over each other.

She begins to play, walking her fingers backwards and forward over the troubling bits of the song, adjusting, correcting. The music rises on the air, dancing in her ears and seeping into her head, the individual notes tangible underneath her fingers as they fly across the keys. On her fifth pass through the song, everything falls into place, and as the song draws to a close, she allows the last notes to linger and die away. 

"That was beautiful, Maki-chan," Hanayo whispers, voice soft with awe. 

"Yeah!" Rin says, without the same amount of delicacy. "It's been so long since you've played something new for us that I almost forgot, but your songs are so good." 

Maki's head jerks toward them sharply enough to make it spin, her eyes springing wide. 

"Rin! Hanayo!" she exclaims, her cheeks flushing warm. "I didn't hear when you came in." 

"But Maki-chan," Rin says. "That was a whole, uhh..." Her eyes roll up, like she's counting in her head. "Five minutes ago, at least! Maybe ten!" 

"You were feeling the music," Hanayo says, nodding slowly as if this makes sense to her. "I almost got lost in it myself, from the way you were playing." 

"I didn't mean to," Maki says, glancing down. 

She's embarrassed to have been caught in practice, rather than being given the opportunity to prepare for them and perform as if in a recital. Then it hits her all at once — they were praising her song, the new, finalized version of her song where everything came clear. 

"I'm... Really glad you both liked it," she says, not quite meeting either of their eyes.

"Of course we did," Rin says, hunkering down so she's on Maki's level, so Maki is caught looking down into Rin's smiling face. Rin wiggles a little where she's crouched, and beams wider. "We always love the music you make." 

"Rin is right," Hanayo says. "It's lovely because you love it so much, we can tell." 

"Oh... Hanayo..." Maki starts to say, and before she can stop herself, reaches up to pull both of them down into a hug. She tilts her face against Hanayo's hair, even as she feels Rin nuzzle in against her shoulder. She's whispering when she finishes, the last words softest of all: "...Rin. Thank you."

* * *  
* *  
*


	12. PG :: [Nozomi/Eli] :: To The Winner

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was written for the fifth bonus round of SASO, which is the remix round. It was inspired by [this incredibly cute art](http://i422.photobucket.com/albums/pp308/Noella84/eli%20nozomi%20summer_zpscibqde4b.jpg) by DW user noepix.
> 
> While the art is nozoeli and nozoeli is the focus, Nico and Rin just happen to come along too. The more the merrier.
> 
> And with this, I conclude my collection of ficlets written for the shipping olympics! While this collection is now complete, I'd like to continue writing short fics in this style on request, so if you'd like to [leave prompts](http://unelegantly.tumblr.com/ask) in my tumblr askbox with a ship and a keyword, quote, song, anything like that to give me some direction, I'll make you a gift!

* * *

"You don't have to play with us, Nicocchi," Nozomi says, resting the nozzle of her water gun back against her shoulder before cracking a smile that stretches mischievously wide. "If a little water gun fight is too childish for you, I'm not going to twist your arm."

Eli tries not to laugh as Nico's face screws up, expression twisting as she's torn between maintaining the facade of her maturity and the awful possibility of missing out on something fun. Eli almost succeeds — her mouth still ends up twisting, twitching with suppressed mirth. 

Nico shoots her a suspicious look, and Eli again composes herself into patient waiting. 

" _Well,_ " Nico says, weighting the single word until it's bursting with self-importance. "Since you must _really_ want me to play with you, it would be so unkind of me to refuse. I could never disappoint someone who's counting on Nico to have a good time." 

She pauses just long enough to shoot them each a warning look. "Even you guys. Who had better not pull anything funny." 

"Me?" Nozomi asks. "Play with anything other than the utmost of fairness? Nicocchi, I'm hurt." 

"Yeah, you're gonna be," Nico mutters. "When I beat you both single-handedly in this fight. Where's my water gun, anyway?" 

"Oh, didn't we tell you?" Eli asks, smiling a little. "Rin wanted to play, too. She's filling up the other water guns right now." 

" _What_?" Nico exclaims. "You didn't say anything about that." 

"Awww, Nico-senpai, don't you want to be on a team with me?" Rin asks, popping up beside her.

Before Nico can even respond, Rin is helpfully shoving a water gun into her hands. She takes it on reflex, staring down at the water sloshing back and forth inside the capsule slotted into the back of the gun. She glances up again, offering Nozomi her best attempt at a snide look down her nose.

"Fine then," Nico says. "Rin and I will beat you two. And when we win, you'll have to admit that I — I mean we — are the best at water gun fights." 

"Of course," Nozomi says, flashing another sneaky smile. "Whatever you say, Nicocchi." 

Then she pulls her gun up, too quick for Nico to react, and spritzes her once right in the chest. Nico's face blossoms into a look of disbelieving outrage. 

"No—zo—mi—!" she starts to say, raising her own gun with dangerous slowness. 

"Oops, it seems like we may really have a fight on our hands, Elichi," Nozomi says, as she grabs for Eli's hand. "Let's go!" 

Nozomi spins on her heel, dragging Eli along — laughing — as Nico pelts after them. She yells curses at Nozomi, sliding on the grass so that her shots from her water gun all go wide. Eli turns and fires off back at her, hitting Nico twice and Rin once, as Rin squirts her gun indiscriminately at all three of them and shrieks delightedly at the top of her lungs. 

Before they're halfway across the field they're all dripping wet and breathless. By the time their guns go dry, even Nico couldn't say who was the winner. 

"It's obvious," Nozomi says, squeezing Eli's hand where her fingers are still clasped in Nozomi's own. "It's all of us." 

Nico huffs, but Eli only laughs and nudges her, and even she can't fight the ruling for long.

* * *  
* *  
*


End file.
